Philippine military on red alert in Manila

The National Capital Region Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Thursday put its troops on red alert status against possible terrorist attacks during the upcoming third anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on Washington and New York City.

There would be an increased visibility of military operatives on different areas in Metro Manila and nearby environs that considered as "soft targets" for terrorist attacks, including bus terminals, seaports, shopping malls and oil depots, military information officer Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lucero told reporters.

"We are not putting down our guards," Lucero said.

The red alert status, the highest in the military's three-tiered alert level scheme, became effective early Thursday and will last up to Saturday, Lucero said. Other units of the military nationwide were placed on blue alert.

He added the military has increased its intelligence efforts tomonitor the security picture of Metro Manila.

Lucero said the raising of the alert level is also in relation to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's trip on Thursday to Brunei to attend the wedding of Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Sarah Selleh.

"It's the normal procedure," Lucero said.

The presence of various insurgent armed groups in the country particularly in the South had made it conducive to terrorist operations, particularly that of the Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast-Asian wing of Osama bin Laden's dreaded al-Qaeda terrorist network.

The Abu Sayyaf, the smallest but most violent of all rebel groups in the country, is believed to be intensifying its operations in Metro Manila to avenge the recent killing and arrestof some of its ranking leaders and to show that they are still a force to reckon with despite almost five years of intense militaryoperations. The group is also linked to the al-Qaeda.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed when four US commercial flights hijacked by al-Qaeda operatives crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001in what is considered now as the deadliest terror attack in recenthistory.

Source: Xinhua